Gas Shortage Shifts From Texas to Florida

Written by Laura Blewitt at Bloomberg

Truckers who hauled gasoline to Texas last week from Florida may run the same route in reverse next week as Hurricane Irma bears down on the Sunshine State. South Floridians are stocking up on supplies like gasoline and water while preparing to evacuate to the northern part of the state ahead of Irma, which is forecast to bring winds as high as 150 miles (240 kilometers) an hour to the state. As many as 600 stations in Florida metropolitan areas were without fuel Wednesday, according to GasBuddy.com, a retail price-tracking service. The rush for fuel in Florida may require supplies from as far away as Texas, which is still reeling from Hurricane Harvey. When that storm choked off major metropolitan areas like Dallas and San Antonio, surplus gallons in Florida was trucked about 1,000 miles west to the Lone Star State to ease the shortages ahead of a long holiday weekend.